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Court mulls appeal of Athens killer

Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Georgia Supreme Court is considering the appeal of an Athens man who is serving a life sentence for murdering his lover's husband in 2004.

An attorney for Robert L. Williams argued Monday that the man should get a new trial because he wasn't granted a request for a speedy trial or adequately represented during his 2006 trial in Bibb County, and the trial judge erred by admitting certain evidence and denying jurors' request to rehear testimony, according to a summary provided by the Supreme Court.

Justices might rule on the appeal as early as Sept. 3, when the next term of the Supreme Court begins, according to court spokeswoman Jane Hansen.

Macon police Detective Cornelius Pendleton, who investigated the slaying of 29-year-old Michael Malone, said he doubted Williams would win his appeal because "the case was well investigated and all the evidence was there on him."

A Bibb County Superior Court jury found Williams guilty of malice murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime, and a judge sentenced Williams to life plus five years in prison.

At the time of the murder, Williams, 47, was a self-employed contractor who lived on Herbert Road off Winterville Road in eastern Clarke County.

According to a summary provided by the Supreme Court, the following evidence was presented during the trial:

On Dec. 20, 2004, Williams, Malone and another man, Jimmy Lee White, drove together from Macon to a construction project in Athens. White testified that Williams and Malone argued, and after they returned to Macon, Williams bought a used car for White and told him to drive home separately.

White testified Williams and Malone drove off, and he last saw them turning onto the street where Malone's body was found later that day.

Malone's wife testified that Williams paid Malone $500 to kill another man, but that her husband had only "wounded the target," leading Williams to threaten her husband.

Malone's wife testified that she and Williams were having an affair, and that she had seen Williams with a Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, the same type of gun used to murder Malone.

Pendleton, the Macon investigator, said Malone met Williams in Alabama and moved to a motel in Macon in order to work for the Athens contractor.

Athens-Clarke police helped Macon authorities arrest Williams at his Herbert Street home nine days after he murdered Malone.

The attorney arguing for Williams' appeal told Supreme Court justices jurors were prejudiced when the judge allowed them to see crime scene photographs of Malone's body.

The judge also erred when, among other things, he denied the jury's request to rehear White's testimony, the attorney said.

Prosecutors contended that Williams was not denied a speedy trial, the judge should decide whether to allow a jury to re-hear testimony, and the crime scene photos were "relevant and properly admitted."